How to improve your sales email reply rate: 7 factors

Before you start

There is no "average reply rate" worth benchmarking against: it depends on the list, the industry, the offer and whether the recipient expected your message. What helps is measuring your own sends and improving one factor at a time. Also check the law in the recipient's country: in Spain, for example, unsolicited commercial email is restricted even between businesses (art. 21 LSSI).

1. The subject line

It decides whether the email gets opened. Short, specific subjects that could only be for that company work better than anything that sounds like an ad.

Worse: "Partnership proposal for your company"
Better: "An idea about [Company]'s website"

2. The opening line

It shows in the preview. It has to prove you looked at their business: a service on their site, their Google listing, their area.

3. Length

An email that can be read in full on a phone screen is more likely to get a reply. If you need a lot of text to explain your offer, simplify the offer first.

4. Personalisation

Real personalisation (not just a first name) means reading each company's website. AI can draft from that reading; always review it, because it can be wrong or generic when the website says little. OpenSells does this for leads with an email and leaves you an editable draft.

5. Timing

Avoid sending when your message is most likely to get buried (first thing Monday, Friday afternoon). Rather than a general rule, test different slots and compare with your own data.

6. Follow-up

Many people don't reply to the first message because they are busy. One or two short, spaced reminders that add something new are usually enough. If someone asks you to stop, stop.

7. Domain reputation

If your messages land in spam, nothing else matters. Google's sender requirements ask for SPF or DKIM (both plus DMARC above 5,000 messages a day) and a spam rate below 0.3%. Send low volumes to curated lists and always offer an opt-out.

How to know you improved

Change one factor at a time and compare similar groups of sends. Our measurement guide explains what to count, for how long and the limits.

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